CHENNAI: Monish Palanivel’s love affair with video games began at the age of four on a black-and-white computer. The game was Prince of Persia. “That was the first game I played and it was exciting. My father then introduced me to other games,” says the 23-year-old.
A full stack developer by profession, Chennai-based Monish is intrigued by the stories a game has to tell. “It is similar to reading a book — complete with twists and turns. The way the story flows keeps me hooked as the game progresses. Competitive gaming doesn’t interest me much. It has no story and people play it just for the fun of competing,” he says.
Though Monish did not take up gaming professionally, he makes sure to spend at least two hours during weekdays playing on his PC, and three to four hours during the weekends. “It is a stress buster and has been a part of my childhood,” he adds.
As a kid, his notebook used to be filled with stickers of the games he liked. Now his phone cases, wallpapers and t-shirts are on his favourite games.
Since he plays for the story of the game, Monish makes sure to complete all the levels before moving on to another game. “Once, I could not play for one and a half months due to work commitments. Though it did disrupt my flow of gaming, I made sure to complete it before playing the next one,” he says.
Having played video games for more than 15 years, gaming has taught him a lot.
“Gaming has taught me to value things more. Tomb Raider helped me improve my problem-solving skills as the character navigates through islands, camps and uses survival instincts, which is important to solve the puzzle-like game.
"Assassin’s Creed is a game which highlights family relationships, mainly focussing on father-son relationships. The Notre-Dame cathedral, which caught fire recently, was recreated single-handedly with a 1:1 ratio for the Assassin’s Creed Unity game in 2014. The incident left the game’s fans emotional. The latest game I played was Metro Exodus where the hero enters a city which is affected by nuclear radiation to bring medicines for his ailing wife,” he says.
After he began earning, Monish saved money and bought a gaming PC. Currently, he is playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider on his computer.